Implementation of talis and dc house system for rural areas in Indonesia

Abstract

In 2017, the aggregate electrification ratio in Indonesia has been achieving 92.8%. However, some rural areas such as in Maluku and Papua Islands still have low electrification ratio (~70%). One of the main problems in supplying electricity to rural areas in Indonesia is the geographical concern which consisted of islands leading to the difficulty of electricity grid development. In some areas, diesel power plant has been being built to supply the electricity. However, it causes another problem to transport the primary energy source to the targeted area which would increase the cost of electricity supply. Besides, it also needs investment cost to build transmission and distribution systems, as well as the maintenance expenses. To resolve this issue, a new scheme of battery-based Tabung Listrik or TaLis (DC-based power bank) and DC house system is proposed to be the solution to provide electricity to rural areas. The potential of local renewable energy sources such as biomass, hydro, wind, and solar could be utilized to be charging sources of batteries (TaLis). This study presents the TaLis prototype, DC house installation, supply chain process and charging scheme of TaLis, and cost comparison between the proposed system with other existing power systems such as communal PV farm and diesel power plant. We found that TaLis and DC house system provided the least cost of electricity production compared to other power systems, i.e. $0.88/kWh for TaLis and DC house system, $1.65/kWh for diesel power plant, and $1.47/kWh for communal PV farm. Implementation of this approach is expected to improve the welfare and quality of life of rural communities immediately.